Google Business Profile

Find out how to maximize your Google Business Profile to rank higher in local search. Learn 10 ways to optimize your Google My Business Profile to rank higher in local search results and attract more sales.

Your Google Business Profile (formally Google My Business) is a powerful but often under-utilized tool to direct potential customer’s eyes to your website. While many businesses focus on SEO to improve their search rankings, implementing a few changes to your Google Employee Profile can have an immediate impact.

By providing dynamic information about your business and highlighting its best features, your profile enables potential customers to find and interact with your business right in the SERP, without having to pay for advertising. And unlike SEO, it only takes minutes to optimize your Business Profile.

Even though generating 167 billion monthly searches on Google, a study by BrightLocal showed that the typical Business News receives only about 1,260 views during that time (that’s 0.00000075%!) Even worse, only 59 actions are performed from those 1,260 views. That’s less than 5%.

The problem isn’t with the Google Business platform; it’s that not enough businesses use all of its great features. That’s why we wrote this guide. Here are 10 ways to optimize your Google Business Profile:

What Is Google My Business (Now Known as Google Business Profile)?

Google Business Profile (GBP) is a free tool that helps you control how your business shows up on Google Search, Google Maps, and Google Shopping.

With this tool, you can talk to customers, share news about your business, list your products or services, and do more.

Here’s what GBP looks like:

What Are the Benefits of Google My Business?

There are three main benefits of having a Google Business Profile:

1. Increase visibility on Google
2. Gain credibility with reviews
3. Share business information with customers

Why it’s important to optimize your Google Business Profile

If you were a customer looking for a Top restaurant in USA and saw these two job descriptions, which would you choose?

If you chose the option on the right, you already understand why it is important to optimize your profile. Feel free to put forward ten options. But if you want to know more about why customization is so important, keep reading.

There are three main reasons why you should optimize your Google Business Profile:

• Increase your local rankings
• Strengthen employee engagement
• Turn away more customers

For service providers, it’s important to show up in local search results to attract more customers. Google’s algorithm considers the information and activity on your Business Profile when displaying search results, so simply adding your zip code isn’t enough to rank high for local searches

The same goes for profiles with limited information. Many consumers are doing “zero-click searches,” which means they’re finding the information they need without visiting a website. In order to attract more customers, it’s important to provide that information directly on Google.

Finally, make accurate Business Profiles appear on as many relevant search engine results pages (SERPs) as possible. If you’re lucky, the standard profile might rank for a few keywords, but the optimized one will show up in more search results and build more. why? Custom profiles give customers options to call, request a quote, make an appointment, visit your website, read a Q&A, leave a review, and more.

In other words, they are actionable. Since the goal is to increase customer feedback, customization is a compelling reason to raise your business profile.

How to optimize your Google business profile: 10 ways

(I’m assuming that since you’ve made it this far, you already have a Google Business Profile set up. If not, here’s how to do it.)

1. Complete and Claim your profile

This may seem obvious, but many profiles leave out important details like website addresses or business hours. Not only does having a complete profile help you rank higher in local search results, but it also encourages customer engagement.

The main fields to fill out are:

• Name
• Address
• Phone number
• Website
• Hours

These are easy wins. Other aspects such as products and services, Q&A, and performance descriptions require more consideration but are important for detail.

Tip: When sorting through these optional sections, think like a potential customer who knows nothing about your business. What information would they need to know at once?

Keep your contact information consistent across the site. When setting up your profile, make sure your contact information matches what has already been published for your business. Even small differences — like using “st” on your website, and “street” on your Google Business Profile — can affect your level of trust in Google’s algorithm, and can reduce visibility in search engine results

With 64% of consumers relying on Google Business Profiles to find contact information, accuracy is essential to avoid turning away potential customers due to incorrect information

2. Write a Business Description

Some features of your Google Business Profile are out of your control, such as a short description with your business name. That’s why it’s important to maximize every part you can handle at all.

At the bottom of your survey is an “From the Business” section where you can outline what makes your business unique and why customers should choose you over competitors.

Tip: When crafting your content

• Put the important information in the first 250 characters (you have up to 750 characters in total).
• Use keywords that potential customers can search for to find your business. Avoid adding links.
• Do not re-upload content that already exists elsewhere in your profile.

3. Choose the correct category for your business

84% of people find professional information by searching for things like “restaurant near me”. This is why it is really important to choose the right category for your business. If your business falls into more than one category, such as “restaurant” and “hotels,” you can add additional categories. But be sure to use the common as your primary class.

When choosing the best category for your business, you may find some special features, such as drop buttons. As mentioned in the first tip, make sure you use all of Google’s options and completely fill out each category.

4. List all products and services for your business

If people can’t tell what your business is by name alone, or you offer multiple services, a “Goods and Services” section can help advertise your business. If you have specialty services or products that other businesses don’t, this section is really helpful.

Tip: Include the name, brief description, and price for each product or service.

5. Display your most important Business attributes

The Google Business Profile attributes section can be very important for some businesses and less important for others. But it’s always a good idea to pack it anyway. Typical attributes include things like accessibility, availability, offers, and payment options. Click here for a full list of features.

6. Add high-quality, descriptive photos

If you’ve ever seen a photo on a Business Profile, it got there in one of two ways: the client posted it or the business created it. While client photos can be great, they don’t always look good or show your business in a positive light, even if the client had a good experience. So, it’s a good idea to add your own photos too, as profiles with images are twice as likely to appear trustworthy compared to profiles without any images.

The best photos to include are:

• In and out of work
• Photographs of your projects or services
• before and after images (be sure to keep them in a single file so people know the “before” isn’t your work—Canva is a free tool you can use for this);
• If you are a mobile business owner, your company car is at work
• Photos of your tools or equipment

Tip: Post photos regularly because active profiles come first, and customers love seeing new photos.

7. Ask customers to leave reviews

No amount of marketing can beat good customer reviews. If you want to improve Google Business Profile engagement, it’s time to ask your customers for reviews.

62% of customers will leave a review if asked, so start with your most loyal customers first. They are more likely to help out. If a polite email doesn’t work, you might consider offering incentives. Giving a discount on their next service or an entry into a contest can help increase the number of reviews. We’ve written more about the best ways to collect customer reviews here.

Tip: Make it easy for customers to review your business by including a link in your post-appointment follow-up or the URL on your receipts for in-person sales.

8. Add customer queries with a Q&A list

One of the most underrated features in Google Business Profile is the “Questions & Answers” ​​section. To get more potential customers, make quizzes about common questions or topics your customers are interested in.

 

Common questions include “Is there a parking space?”. and “Do they accept credit cards?”. Consider someone who knows nothing about your business and ask curious questions and answers before scheduling your services.

Tip: Set up alerts to quickly respond to questions submitted by anyone and avoid inaccurate answers.

9. Add posts to your Google Business Profile to your social media strategy

Optimizing your Google Business Profile is an ongoing process. Active profiles rank higher in local search results than inactive profiles. Treat your Business Profile like any other social media platform by updating it regularly.

You don’t have to post as often on Facebook or Instagram, but be sure to respond quickly to comments and questions. Upload new photos at least once a month. You can also add additional information that appears under your reviews and in the “From Business” section. This is a great way to keep your profile up to date and quickly promote offers, events, or announcements.

Tip: Include links and call-to-actions (CTAs) in your updates so people can take immediate action.

10. Enable messaging through your Google Business Profile

Creating a message on your Google Business Profile lets customers text you without giving out your personal number. With nearly 80% of smartphone users using their phones for local exploration, customers are more likely to reach you.

Tip: To make sure you never miss any customer messages, turn on alerts in your Google My Business dashboard.

Conclusion: Tips to Maintain Your Google Business Profile

1. Regularly check and update information:

Make it a habit to review your profile information regularly to ensure it’s accurate, especially if your business hours change seasonally.

Frequency: Monthly

2. Post updates, photos, and posts consistently:

Keep your profile active by regularly posting updates, new photos, and engaging content. This signals to the search algorithm that your business is active and relevant.

Frequency: Every two weeks to monthly, depending on customer engagement

3. Monitor and respond to reviews promptly:

Improve your search ranking and customer appeal by responding quickly to reviews and questions. Aim to reply within 24 hours to maintain good customer service.

Frequency: As needed